Has Hideo Kojima Left Konami?

Yesterday it was reported in The New Yorker that Hideo Kojima quit Konami on October 9th. His leaving party was reportedly “a rather cheerful but also emotional goodbye.” But now Konami have contradicted the article – claiming instead that Kojima and his team are on holiday.

Speaking to Tokyo Sports, the company said: “Currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid V and are taking a long time off from work.

“Because the development time for console games is so long and fatigue builds up, it’s common for employees to take extended periods of time of when development is finished.”

The confusion follows a long period of speculation over Kojima’s position at the company, which began with cryptic tweets from the auteur developer during the development of the recently released Metal Gear Solid V.

His name was removed from promotional material for the game, as the company was reported to be changing direction to focus on pachinko machines.